Improvement in hydrants



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ALEXANDERS. FORT, or OINOINNATI, OHIO.

Letters Patent No. 100,389, dated .March 1, 1870.

IMPovEMENT 1N HYDRANTS.

The Schedule referred tofin these Letters Patent and making perl: of the same I, ALEXANDER S. FORT,A of,` Cincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio, have invented a new and useful Hydrant,

` of which the following is a specitication.

d Nature and Objects ofthe Invention.

My invention relates to'an arrangement of parts in a hydrant, whereby the contents of the discharge-pipe are, by the act of closing the hydrant, drawn into a General Description. with Reference to the Bmuangs.

Figures 1 and 2 are axial sections of my hydrant inA the opened and closed conditions respectively.`

A is a water-reception chamber, which receives water through a service-pipe, B, and in the open condition of the hydrant (see iig. 1) discharges water into a cylinder or barrel, C, whose base l) forms the top of the chamber A, and is-secured toit by a righthand screw-thread, d. I

The cylinder O has at top a brim or flange, E, of much largerdiameter than itself, which brim is united by a left-hand thread, e, with. my vacuum chamber F, which chamber is of suicient capacity to receive the `contents of they discharge-pipe G, or so much of said contents as 'to bring theirupper part below the reach of frost.

The vacuum chamber Fis provided at top with a neck, H, through which the discharge-pipe G freely plays, the said pipe so-nearly h'tting said neck as to constitute the `latter a guide for theformer, but not` so tightlybut that air can '.pass 'the saine-with suf'licient freedol'n to afford no opposition to the ascent or descent ofthe piston I, except to prevent by cushioning any violent slam ofthe hydrant in shutting,ii'1 places where a high pressure ot' water obtains.

The piston I is made` to titand work snugly within the vacuum chamber F, and lnaycousist of a leather cup, fi, and a gum gasket or disk, t', as shown.

Projecting `inwardly from the top of the cylinder C is an annular rim or ledge, J, whose upper surface, constituting a seat for a valve, R, on the discharge-pipe G, prevents the escape ot' water into the vacuum chamber inthe open condition of the hydraut, (see iig. 1,) and whose under surface, constituting a seat for the rubber piston or plunger K at the bottom of the discharge-pipaperforms the same unctin in the closed conditionthe hydrant. (See The plunger K is preferably formed of gum-elastic or rubber, in the shape represented, its thick upper part, k, constituting both'a plunger in the lower posi` tions and a cushion -in the uppermost position of the discharge-pipe. (See tige.- 1 and 2 respectively.)

The lower portion or lip It of the plunger' forms, with the upper portion, a cap which acts to hug the sides of the cylinder in proportion to the pressure, and thus prevents leakage.

Holes L in the side of the discharge-pipe, just above the plunger K, permit either the egress of water, as in l'g. 1, or its ingress, as in tig. 2.

Operation.

The hydrantis opened by simply depressing the discharge-pipe to the position shown iu iig. 1, so as to expel the plunger K from the cylinder C andenable the water to flow upward through the lower part of cylinder into the discharge-pipe by way of the orifices L.

. The depression of the discharge-pipe also closes the top of the cylinder by the seating ot' the valve It, so that nol water can pass into thevacnum chamber.

The hydrant is closed by simply releasing the discharge-pipe andv permitting the pressure oi' water to force it upward, causing the piston I to travel to the top ot' the vacuum chamber, and, by creating a` vacuum therein, to suck back, through the orifices L, the water contained in the discharge-pipe, orif there be not sufficient pressure ot` water in the service-pipe, the discharge-pipe may be elevated by the same appliance employed to depressv The act ot elevating the discharge-pipe also serves to close the top of` the cylinder C from below by the impact or seating of the portion 7e of the plunger K, so as etectually to prevent the passage of water from the service-pipe into the'vacuum chamber except the few drops that pass through the cylinder at the instant of reversal.V i

When the hydrant is again opened, the depression of the piston K forces back into the discharge-pipe the water last received therefrom, which water escapes from the hydrant in advance ot' that which ascends directly from the service-pipe.

The neck H has a hexagonal or other non-circular forni, to enable the application of a wrench whereby the whblc of the hydrant above the receiving chamber may be unscrewed from said chamber and withdrawn A for inspection or repair, if need be.

Claim..

I claim herein as my invention- The arrangement of water-reception chamber A, cyl- 'inder C D d E e, vacuum' chamber F H, perforated discharge-pipe G L,.pistons I t t" and K l.: It', valve R, and annular valve-scat J, the whole heilig combined 

